Includes all employees and elected officials of the Executive and
Legislative branches of the County, including the employees and elected officials
of the offices of independently elected County officials.

Official mail, other than personal or political mail, which is authorized
by law to be transmitted in the mail, either by the Department of Administrative
Services, or an outside vendor under contract with the County or a County
employee.

Subject to the limitations imposed by this chapter, there
may be transmitted as official mail the official mail of the government of
Allegheny County; including mail relating to the official duties of all applicable
employees of the government of Allegheny County.

A department or officer authorized to use official covers
may enclose them with return address to any person from or through whom official
information is desired. The official cover may be used only to transmit the
official information and endorsements relating thereto.

All applicable employees of the government of Allegheny County authorized
by law to use official mail shall account for all official covers through
the Department of Administrative Services of Allegheny County or other designated
department that is to handle the printing and postal service of the government
of Allegheny County.

It is the policy of the government of Allegheny County
that the privilege of sending mail as official mail shall be established under
this section in order to assist and expedite the conduct of the official business,
activities, and duties of the government of Allegheny County.

It is the intent of Allegheny County Council that such
official business, activities, and duties cover all matters which directly
or indirectly pertain to the legislative process or to any representative
functions generally, or to the functioning, working, or operating of the government
of Allegheny County and the performance of official duties in connection therewith,
and shall include, but not be limited to, the conveying of information to
the public, and the requesting of the views of the public, or the views and
information of other authority of government, as a guide or a means of assistance
in the performance of those functions.

Mail matter to any person and to all agencies and officials
of federal, state, and local governments regarding programs, decisions, and
other related matters of public concern or public service, including any matter
relating to actions of a past or current government of Allegheny County;

The usual and customary newsletter or press release which
may deal with such matters as the impact of laws and decisions on state and
local governments and individual citizens; reports on public and official
actions taken by the government of Allegheny County; and discussions of proposed
or pending legislation or governmental actions and the positions of all applicable
employees on, and arguments for or against, such matters;

Mail matter, including general mass mailings, which consists
of the government of Allegheny County laws, the government of Allegheny County
regulations, other government of Allegheny County publications, publications
purchased with the government of Allegheny County funds, or publications containing
items of general information;

Mail matter which constitutes or includes a biography
or autobiography of any applicable employee of, or applicable employee-elect
to, or any biographical or autobiographical material concerning such applicable
employee or applicable employee-elect or the spouse or other members of the
family of such applicable employee or applicable employee-elect, and which
is so mailed as a part of a government of Allegheny County publication or
in response to a specific request therefor and is not included for publicity
purposes in a newsletter or other general mass mailing of the applicable employee
or applicable employee-elect under the mailing privilege; or

Mail matter which contains a picture, sketch, or other
likeness of any applicable employee or applicable employee-elect and which
is so mailed as a part of a government of Allegheny County publication or
in response to a specific request therefor and, when contained in a newsletter
or other general mass mailing of any applicable employee or applicable employee-elect,
is not of such size, or does not occur with such frequency in the mail matter
concerned, as to lead to the conclusion that the purpose of such picture,
sketch, or likeness is to advertise the applicable employee or applicable
employee-elect rather than to illustrate accompanying text.

It is the intent of the Allegheny County Council that
the mailing privilege under this section shall not permit, and may not be
used for, the transmission through the mails as official mail of matter which
in its nature is purely personal to the sender or to any other person and
is unrelated to the official business, activities, and duties of the public
officials covered by Subsection B(1) of this section.

Mail matter which constitutes or includes any article,
account, sketch, narration, or other text laudatory and complimentary of any
applicable employee or applicable employee-elect on a purely personal or political
basis rather than on the basis of performance of official duties as an applicable
employee or on the basis of activities as an applicable employee-elect;

Reports of how or when such applicable employee or applicable
employee-elect, or the spouse or any other member of the family of such applicable
employee or applicable employee-elect, spends time other than in the performance
of, or in connection with, the legislative, representative, and other official
functions of such applicable employee or the activities of such applicable
employee-elect as an applicable employee-elect; or

If the mass mailing is postmarked fewer than 60 days
immediately before the date of any primary election or general election (whether
regular, special, or runoff) in which the applicable employee is a candidate
for reelection; or

Is prepared for delivery within any portion of the jurisdiction
of or the area covered by the public office which is outside the area from
which the applicable employee or applicable employee-elect was elected; or

Is postmarked fewer than 90 days immediately before the
date of any primary election or general election (whether regular, special,
or runoff) in which the applicable employee or applicable employee-elect is
a candidate for any other public office.

The Allegheny County Ethics Commission shall prescribe
the rules and regulations and shall take other action as the Commission considers
necessary and proper for applicable employee or applicable employee-elect
to comply with the provisions of this subsection and applicable rules and
regulations. The rules and regulations shall include provisions prescribing
the time within which mailings shall be mailed at or delivered to any postal
facility and the time when the mailings shall be deemed to have been mailed
or delivered to comply with the provisions of this paragraph.

As used in this subsection, the term "mass mailing" means
any mailing of newsletters or other pieces of mail with substantially identical
content (whether such mail is deposited singly or in bulk, or at the same
time or different times), totaling more than 500 pieces in that session, except
that such term does not include any mailing:

For purposes of Subsection A(6)(a) and (c), if mail matter
is of a type which is not customarily postmarked, the date on which such matter
would have been postmarked if it were of a type customarily postmarked shall
apply.

The applicable employee or applicable employee-elect,
may send, as official mail, matter relating to his or her official business,
activities, and duties, as intended by the Allegheny County Council to be
mailable as official mail under Subsection A(2) and (3) of this section.

If a vacancy occurs in the Executive and Legislative
branches of the County, including the offices of independently elected County
officials, any authorized person may exercise the mailing privilege in the
officer's name during the period of the vacancy.

Official mail may be in any form appropriate for mail
matter, including, but not limited to, correspondence, newsletters, questionnaires,
recordings, facsimiles, reprints, and reproductions. Official mail shall not
include matter which is intended by the Allegheny County Council to be nonmailable
as official mail under Subsection A(4) and (5) of this section.

The Allegheny County Ethics Commission shall prescribe
rules and regulations governing any official mail which is mailed and shall
by regulation limit the number of such mailings allowed under this subsection.

Any applicable employee or applicable employee-elect
entitled to make any mass mailing as official mail may, before making any
mass mailing, submit a sample or description of the mass mail matter involved
to the Allegheny County Ethics Commission for an advisory opinion as to whether
the proposed mass mailing is in compliance with the provisions of this subsection.

Any mass mailing which otherwise would be permitted to
be mailed as official mail under this section shall not be so mailed unless
the cost of preparing and printing the mail matter is paid exclusively from
funds appropriated by Allegheny County Council, except that an otherwise official
mass mailing may contain, as an enclosure or supplement, any public service
material which is purely instructional or informational in nature, and which
in content is official under this section.

A person entitled to use an official mailing, unless required to fulfill
the duties of a board or authority, may not lend it or permit its use by any
committee, organization, or association, or permit its use by any person for
the benefit or use of any committee, organization, or association.

If a person entitled to transmit official mail, including
mass mail, is found by the Allegheny County Ethics Commission to have violated
this chapter, the Ethics Commission may recommend that the person be ordered
to reimburse Allegheny County for the postage on, and fees and charges in
connection with sending the mail matter through the mails, including any fees
and charges for handling and delivery.

If a violation of this chapter is determined to exist
by the Allegheny County Ethics Commission, pursuant to the Allegheny County
Code of Accountability, Conduct and Ethics, the Allegheny County Ethics Commission
shall report its findings and recommendations to the Chief Executive and County
Council. It shall be the responsibility of the Allegheny County Controller
to enforce the reimbursement findings of the Allegheny County Ethics Commission,
following an audit of such activity by the County Controller.

In the event that the Office of County Controller is
at issue, the Chief Executive and County Council may appoint an independent
auditor to conduct an audit of such activity and make a recommendation and/or
enforcement.